January a good start for Iowa stocks in 2019

Seventeen out of 21 Iowa-based companies posted gains for the month of January. Four posted losses.

Ten companies posted double-digit percentage gains. The top three were KemPharm Inc. with a 44.63 percent gain, Lee Enterprises Inc. with a 29.38 percent gain and Winnebago Industries Inc. with an 18.13 percent gain.

The four companies that were down in January were: Ames National Corp., NewLink Genetics Corp., Art’s Way Manufacturing Co. and United Fire Group Inc.

The Iowa Index, an unweighted average price of 21 Iowa-based public companies, increased by 6.36 percent from December and was down 15.90 percent on a year-over-year basis, the Business Record's monthly snapshot of Iowa companies shows.

By comparison, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 7.17 percent during the month and decreased 4.40 percent from a year ago. The Nasdaq composite gained 9.74 percent during the month and decreased 1.75 percent from a year ago.

The Iowa-based companies that make up the Iowa Index are in bold in this list of companies with sizable operations in the state.